Apparatuses of the generic type are known from a wide variety of fields. Very generally, they are apparatuses used for handling and/or processing objects of any kind. The objects are delivered either to a single processing station or to multiple processing stations, usually in a predefined sequence; processed therein; and then lastly transported away from the processing station, in which context different groups of processing stations can be arranged one behind another.
Reference is made, purely by way of example, to EP 0 849 582 A2. This document discloses an apparatus for treating objects, in particular cytological or histological specimens, in which cytological or histological specimens are delivered by way of an object carrier or basket to an automatic stainer, the automatic stainer comprising multiple processing stations. Once the object has been delivered to the automatic stainer, identification of the object or indeed of multiple objects within the automatic stainer is no longer possible. Simultaneous processing of different specimens is therefore not possible with the known apparatus, since there is a risk of mixing up different specimens. With the known apparatus is also not possible simultaneously to run different staining programs with identical or different specimens, since no distinction can be made among the various specimens that are to be differently processed or stained.